UFCW union bosses backed down after facing federal charges for threatening workers who wouldn’t join union strike

PORTLAND, OR (November 25, 2024) – Reegin Schaffer, a Portland-area Fred Meyer employee, has prevailed in her dispute with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 555. Schaffer filed charges against the union alleging that union officials broke federal law by ignoring her requests to resign union membership during a union strike and by unlawfully retaliating against her by seeking to fine her for exercising her right to disagree with union boss strike orders and go to work. Schaffer is receiving free legal representation from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.

Foundation attorneys’ actions forced UFCW Local 555 to quickly drop its internal disciplinary proceedings against her. These proceedings, which could have resulted in punitive fines, were initiated after Schaffer resigned her union membership and returned to work.

Charges: UFCW Union Bosses Made Illegal Fine Threats

Schaffer and co-worker Coyesca Vasquez filed charges at National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 19. The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for enforcing the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the federal law that governs private sector labor relations in the United States.

As detailed in the charges, on August 30, 2024 the employees exercised their right to resign union membership and return to work. However, on September 24, 2024, and October 14 2024, respectively, UFCW union officials notified Vasquez and Schaffer that the union had started internal proceedings against them and that their presence would soon be required at a union “trial,” which is the first step towards imposing fines.

If an employee is not a voluntary union member, he or she cannot be legally subjected to internal union discipline like the kind UFCW union officials attempted to impose. In such internal discipline tribunals, union bosses frequently levy punitive fines against workers amounting to thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.

Once UFCW union officials dropped their attempt to fine Schaffer, Foundation staff attorneys asked the NLRB to end the case. Meanwhile, Coyesca Vasquez’s charge remains pending with the agency, which is investigating UFCW officials’ actions against Vasquez.

UFCW Officials Were Previously Caught Illegally Imposing Massive Strike Fines Against Workers

Workers have faced similar unlawful fines, during past UFCW–instigated strikes. In 2022, union officials illegally levied fines against King Sooper’s grocery chain workers in Denver, Colorado who chose to exercise their right to work during a strike.

The unlawful fines issued by union bosses against the workers were more per day than the workers earned in a day of work, in one case totaling nearly $4,000 throughout the 10 day strike. In that instance, Foundation staff attorneys filed multiple cases against the UFCW, ultimately resulting in union bosses rescinding the unlawful fines.

“That Reegin Schaffer ultimately prevailed and forced UFCW bosses to drop their illegal threats does not erase the troubling pattern of behavior by UFCW union officials, who have repeatedly sought to undermine workers’ protected legal rights through retaliatory fines,” said National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation President Mark Mix. “Employees should not have to file federal charges just to have their rights respected, and we look forward to continuing to assist Coyesca Vasquez in her case against UFCW union bosses’ ugly retaliation tactics.”

The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.